The star of Hello, Dolly! and Lady Bird looks back on the beginning of her friendship, reveals the root of the name Beanie, and more.

Rising star Beanie Feldstein appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers November 13 to talk about her scene-stealing turn in the upcoming Greta Gerwig film Lady Bird. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as well as Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner Tracy Letts and Tony winner Laurie Metcalf.

In the film, Feldstein plays the titular character’s best friend Julie, who also gets the lead in the high school musical. Feldstein says she read the breakdown for the role and knew she had to have the part.

“Greta Gerwig is a genius, and she wrote the most amazing script,” Feldstein told Meyers. “We just don’t have enough of these complicated female roles and female movies, and specifically Julie just felt like a very good fit for me.”

Feldstein also revealed that while her given name is Elizabeth, her nanny started calling her Beanie. While her brothers thought it would be funny to keep calling her by the nickname, the joke is on them since Feldstein fully embraced it. (It’s her professional name as seen in her Playbill bio for Hello, Dolly!)

While she stars as Minnie Fay in the revival starring Bette Midler, her best friend Ben Platt won a Tony for his original role in Dear Evan Hansen.

“We met at a bat mitzvah actually,” said Feldstein of how she and Platt first became friends. “He joined my school in ninth grade, and we instantly became best friends.

“The second week of school he got his braces off and he texted me,” she explained, “and I left my class to come see his teeth. And I'm such a goodie-goodie and I love school, so he was like, ‘I must mean a lot to you because you left to see my teeth.‘” Watch the full interview in the video above.